Taken by Her Mates

by Grace Goodwin

  Too late. Pain shot through my temples and I dropped to my knees. The shotgun clattered to the floor as I bent over and whimpered, fighting to remain conscious.

  Clyde grabbed the weapon and took one step toward me before the front door exploded inward on its hinges. Three gigantic beings stepped into Clyde’s living room. They were not human. Their entire bodies were metallic, but not hard and reflective, like my grandfather’s wrenches; they were soft, like metal that moved, flowing over their bodies like skin, like living tissue. Their eyes were silver but in the center, where the pupils should be, ran black dots and lines like patterns on a computer part. They had eyelids, but they did not blink as they took in the room and the man who charged them with the shotgun.

  They were like something out a movie. Robots come to life. Aliens. Something definitely not human.

  Clyde blasted one of them with the shotgun as I grabbed my camera and scrambled beneath the kitchen table, headed for the back door. My head pulsed with pain but I knew these men—or whatever the hell they were—were not here for a friendly visit. If they wanted Clyde, they could have him.

  The buckshot bounced off their armor, splattering in a wide pattern throughout the room. I clenched my teeth to remain silent as I felt a piece of buckshot embed in my leg, another in my shoulder.

  I’d had worse and compared to the pain in my head, it was nothing.

  I was crawling out onto the back patio when I heard Clyde start screaming. Heavy footsteps moved toward me, the thud of metallic boots shaking the hardwood floor beneath my knees as one of the monsters came for me.

  Giving up all pretense of stealth, I scrambled to my feet and ran, my planned escape route now coming in handy, not to flee the scene with my recording, as I’d originally intended, but to run for my life.

  Clyde continued to scream in agony, but I didn’t turn back. I ran, one of the creatures right behind me. It didn’t matter how many times I turned, how many shortcuts I took, or places I tried to hide. He kept coming, as if I had a homing beacon…

  Shit. I lifted my fingertips to the scars on the sides of each temple and cursed fate, God, and the alien prince who’d abandoned me. They did have a tracking device. It was supposed to be a fucking language translator! The crackling sound had faded, but it was still there, and I realized it was their language. True to Warden Egara’s promise, as I heard more, their words became clear. Except they weren’t speaking aloud, like normal people, but through some kind of broadcast frequency my new implants could pick up. It wasn’t English, but I understood it perfectly.

  “Find the woman. We must take her to the core.”

  “She is approximately seventy-two feet from our position. We will capture her in twenty-three-point-five seconds.”

  “The human male is dead. Get the female. We need to get off this planet before the coalition tracks our ship.”

  “Nineteen seconds at current position and speed.”

  “Increase speed.”

  “We will increase fifteen percent.”

  I briefly thought of Warden Egara and her claims regarding the implant’s language mastery. She was right. If I survived this, I’d have to send her a thank-you note.

  Nineteen seconds until that thing had me? I ran faster than I’d ever moved in my life, thankful for once that I forced myself to work out five days a week, and ran straight into a giant chest. Stunned, I looked up, way up, saw silver flesh, and screamed.

  Chapter Four

  Prince Nial, Earth

  The woman in my arms took one look at my face and screamed as if she had landed in the arms of the Hive hordes. She struggled, kicking and fighting my grip as relief flooded my body. I knew her face from the bride protocol files that Dr. Mordin had received prior to her transport. Prior to her failed transport. This was my mate, my bride. There was no doubt. Besides a visual confirmation, I knew she was mine. And she was terrified, but alive. And very, very beautiful.

  The iron-rich scent of her blood reached me, causing rage to flood my body, battle rage like I’d never felt before. But then, I’d never before been protecting my mate. She was scared, and had been injured. I had no idea how badly. I would need to strip her of her clothing and inspect every inch of her body as soon as possible.

  The thought of touching her, of exploring her curves, made my cock harden in response. I remembered the mating ceremony dream and knew instinctively what she needed, but now was not the time. Already pushed to a near frenzied state by the danger to her, I did not welcome my body’s automatic response to the sweet scent of her skin and the flowery fragrance of her shining golden hair. The long strands were not dark gold, as many of my people had, but a pale color, like liquid sunlight. My personal light in the darkness. I knew only she would be able to tame the monster my cyborg implants would tempt me to become.

  Speaking of monsters, the creature that pursued her would not be breathing much longer. I could hear the Hive scouts inside my mind, chattering with each other in that strange language of beeps and noise that sounded like buzzing insects inside my skull.

  I had not missed that sound, but I was grateful for it now. Their noise had led Ander and me straight to them, and to my mate.

  I leaned down and caught her gaze with my own, her eyes like the pale blue skies of her home world. “Jessica Smith, do not be afraid. I will not allow anything to harm you.”

  “How do you know my name? Are you one of them?” Her eyes wide, she stopped fighting and her gaze quickly took in the black t-shirt, pants, and leather jacket I had acquired to hide my small cache of Earth weapons. I would not need those weapons, not for the cyborg scout running toward us at full speed. I would rip him to pieces with my bare hands. In fact, I eagerly awaited his arrival.

  She looked back over her shoulder, trembling, but not panicked, her small hands wrapped around my huge biceps, tugging on me in an attempt to force me to move. “It’s coming in… ten seconds. Nine. Shit. We have to go.”

  I shook my head and gently moved her to stand behind me. “I do not run from the Hive. I will kill him for you.”

  Perhaps, if I could impress her with my strength and battle skills, she would allow me to claim her without the bonding influence of a Prillon mate’s collar. Our bonding collars waited for us back on the commander’s battleship but they would do me no good here on Earth. Until we transported back, I had only the advantage of the bonding essence in my semen to convince Jessica to accept me, but to get that to work, I had to get close enough to spread my eager cock’s fluid on her flesh.

  Booted footsteps pulled me from thoughts of fucking my mate and I bellowed my challenge to the Hive soldier when he rounded the corner closest to where I stood. He stopped short, staring.

  I heard their chatter increase in speed and volume, but thought nothing of it as I moved forward, toward my enemy.

  Behind me, my mate pressed her hands and forehead into her palms as she sank to her knees. She whimpered as if in great pain.

  Their communication was hurting her somehow. I charged the cyborg, eager to rip him in half, but he turned and ran like a coward. I could not pursue him, not with my mate scared, weak, and vulnerable to attack. I knelt beside her and her fingers clutched my shirt, holding on as if I were truly her savior, her chosen mate.

  Her touch, her need of me, settled deep within and I determined to earn her trust and affection. I wanted her to cling to me out of choice and desire, not fear of the Hive. I wanted her to touch me because I had become a craving in her blood, not simply a necessity to her survival. But I would accept this fragile bond between us, for now. At least she would allow me to care for her, to take her to safety and tend her wounds.

  Frustrated at losing my prey, but determined to take care of my mate first, I permitted the scout’s escape, filing his features away in my memory for a later hunt. He would die; it was simply a matter of time.

  I inspected the area to be sure no threats remained before lifting my mate up into my arms. She felt perfect cradled against my chest
, nothing but the thin, primitive Earthen clothing to keep the heat of her soft curves from penetrating my suddenly cool body. Lowering my face to her breasts, I breathed in the heated scent of her skin, her smell igniting a fire in my body I could barely contain. My cock hardened painfully and I growled in warning as she squirmed, kicking her legs. I pressed my lips to the curve of her breast through her soft shirt and she froze.

  “What are you doing? Put me down!”

  Reluctant to withdraw from the soft globes, I forced myself to lift my head. I ignored her protests and began walking to the rendezvous point Ander and I had agreed upon in a nearby park. We had positioned Warden Egara’s vehicle there. Upon our arrival at the transport center, the warden had helped us locate clothing and primitive communication devices the humans referred to as cell phones. Mine was in the pocket of my jacket, where it now buzzed.

  I tapped the odd device in my ear that the warden had programmed for each of us and waited for the change in sound I knew meant that the communication device had been activated.

  “Speak.”

  Ander’s voice came through clearly. “Two Hive scouts were at the human male’s residence. I killed them both.”

  “Good. I encountered one on foot, but could not pursue.”

  “He will return here for the others. I will await his arrival and track him to his ship.” Ander’s deep voice carried clearly through the quiet air and my mate had stopped fidgeting to listen to our conversation.

  “Good. Find his ship and make sure he is dead. Take his core processor. I want to know what they were doing on Earth.”

  “I will tear him in half, as I did the others.”

  I envied the smug satisfaction I heard in Ander’s voice. He had experienced the supreme satisfaction of ripping a scout’s body into pieces. I wanted that release, craved it. Nothing less than complete annihilation of an enemy would calm the battle rage running through my veins.

  Or rutting like a wild beast in a willing female, fucking the rage from my body with ruthless thrusts of my cock into a wet, eager pussy…

  My mate wiggled, taking a quick breath and I looked down at her, thoughts of fucking replaced with surprise as she spoke. “Burn the bodies. They have to be destroyed. Their ship, too.”

  My eyes widened at her words.

  “Why?” Destroying Hive bodies was a long, involved process. Their metal parts could take hours to melt without the proper incinerators. The ship was less of a problem. If it would not self-destruct, we would simply launch the vessel on a collision course with Earth’s star where it would be incinerated instantly. If the Hive ship was nearby, we could load the dead bodies onboard and send all of them to a fiery disposal.

  “So my people don’t get their technology. Our scientists are smart. They can reverse engineer anything. Those things have to be completely destroyed.”

  I sighed, resigned to trust our mate’s judgment. Earth was a new member of the coalition and still considered a primitive planet. They had not yet been granted full access to coalition weapons or technology. In fact, my presence on Earth violated the coalition agreement put in place to protect Earth from the Hive. Earth was off limits to all travel as coalition politicians and scientists worked with Earth’s governments. Humans were not dealing well with the realization that they were one small, insignificant world among over two hundred planetary systems. Humanity was small, and still they bickered amongst themselves, undervalued their females, and had no respect for their planet.

  “You are right, Jessica Smith. Humans are not to be trusted.” Giving the human governments access to Hive technology would be dangerous. Humanity could not stop killing each other, despite the Hive threat. They were not ready for more power.

  He pressed a spot on his shirt.

  “I’ve opened comms so Jessica can hear you, Ander. As she said, load the bodies onto their ship and send it into their star. Leave nothing behind for their scientists.”

  Ander’s voice came through a small speaker built in to my shirt. “Who is this female issuing orders to warriors of Prillon?”

  Jessica gasped at Ander’s question, but that would be nothing to the shock I knew my words would bring her.

  “Our mate.”

  Ander’s silence lasted mere seconds, but Jessica’s pulse, which had begun to slow, raced once more as he addressed her directly. “Greetings, mate. I am Ander, your second; it is my duty and privilege to destroy your enemies. Then I will come to you. Your pleasure shall be the only reward I seek for tearing their heads from their bodies.”

  When had my second become a poet?

  I looked at Jessica to judge her reaction to Ander’s solemn vow. Her face was a mask of confusion.

  A group of Hive killers tried to murder her. Now I held her—I didn’t look any less fierce than those from the Hive—and said she was our mate. Ander was going to kill her enemies and claimed touching her body, bringing her release would be his reward. It was much to assimilate, even for a Prillon woman. But an Earth woman? I was surprised she had yet to faint.

  His words had affected her, but not in the way I expected. I smelled her arousal as clearly as I smelled the blood of her wounds. The scent of her wet pussy was like a drug in my system that went straight to my hard cock. If she weren’t injured, I would take her here, now. Make her mine forever.

  She bit her lip, and I ached to taste her, trying, with difficulty, to focus on her words as she spoke.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  Yes, as I’d expected.

  She frowned, her eyebrows drawing closer to one another in an adorable shape I had seen on Lady Deston’s face when she was arguing with her mates. I wanted to lean over and trace the crease between her brows with my lips, but held still as she inspected me with renewed vigor.

  “You look like them. Who are you people? Why did they kill Clyde? What’s the core? And why is your friend talking about being a second? What the hell is that? Then there’s the vow to kill my enemies. I don’t know any aliens, let alone have enemies. And his reward? I don’t know who he is, why is he talking about pleasuring me and…”

  Her voice trailed off as she returned her gaze to mine.

  “Fucking?” I suspected she could see my need to fuck her in my eyes, for I did nothing to hide myself from her. She needed to see right away the connection we had, the almost desperate need I had for her. It was amazing really, the matching program, for I had zero doubt that she was my mate. I felt it when I saw her. It was confirmed by the feel of her in my arms. Our connection would be complete when the bonding ceremony was achieved. I didn’t need a collar about my neck psychically connecting me to one about hers to know we were bonded, meant to be together. I just did, and that was truly amazing.

  Gods, I wanted to bury my cock in her body and make her scream. I wanted to see her breasts quiver and shake. I wanted her absolutely mindless as I made her come over and over again. I needed her pussy to be dripping wet, my tongue buried deep, my fingers exploring her ass as I made her whimper and beg and surrender to me.

  “Yes, fucking. That, too.”

  I had forgotten all about Ander on the other end of the conversation until her soft response made him growl with lust. Her eyes widened but Ander recovered quickly, his clipped tones clear through the earpiece.

  “Take the vehicle and care for our mate. I will remove the threat and meet you at the transport facility.”

  He disconnected and I told my cock to stand down. My mate was in my arms, and she was bleeding. I would instruct her in her new role later after I had taken care of her wounds, when I would balance her lessons with pleasure.

  Ander had been a wise choice as my second. He was fearless and powerful and I knew that his commitment to Jessica meant he would be thorough indeed in taking care of her enemies. I trusted him to eliminate both the Hive bodies and their ship. We didn’t dare attempt to assume control of their vessel for the programming was too sophisticated for us to overcome and we would end up back in Hive
hands.

  Never again. I would die before I allowed another member of their race to touch me.

  No, Ander would destroy their ship and I would take our mate to the humans’ bride processing center and to Warden Egara. If my father had not yet locked down the transport relay stations in space, as I expected, I could have my mate safely back onboard Commander Deston’s warship in a matter of hours.

  I increased my speed to a light jog, not interested in having anyone about to see me—half man, half machine, at least to those on Earth—but the night was quiet. I passed like a shadow through a community of housing units that appeared in a long row. Cars, Earth’s vehicle of choice, lined the street. Tall trees shielded the Earth’s moon so only lights attached to the housing units’ front entryways brightened the night.

  The air was warm, close to the temperature of the climate-controlled warship, but it was damp. The air held moisture, which seemed… odd. I did not intend to remain on Earth long enough to delve into this curiosity. What I wanted to delve into was—

  Jessica cried out and I glanced down at her. My pace was jostling to her, causing her pain. I stopped, prepared to take her to the ground, strip her bare, and apply field dressings to her wounds if necessary. “I smell your blood, mate.”

  She shook her head against my chest.

  “You smell it?” she asked with surprise.

  Couldn’t everyone sense their mate’s blood or was it just me, due to my Hive enhancements?

  “It’s just a scratch. I’ve had worse. You can put me down now. Really, please. Thank you for your help, but you can go.” Her fingers trembled and I scowled, trying to imagine the circumstances under which a female had suffered wounds so severe that bleeding through her clothing—for her shoulder was now sticky and wet with drying blood—was considered such a small thing.

  “Go? Where I go, you go, mate. I can tend you now. It is my duty to ensure you are well.”

  She shook her head again. “No. It can wait. Just… just put me down. I need to get out of here before more of those… things come back.”